“It’s a very tiny bird, the size of a sparrow, and I photographed him on a hill near my house in Pune,” the wildlife photographer Kunal Shah remembers of his recent encounter with a male Red Avadavat, also known as the Strawberry Finch, during the breeding season. Sadly, the strawberry finch has historically been trafficked as part of the pet trade, so Shah was grateful to witness this one in the wild, free to explore it’s natural habitat. Despite their regular presence in Pune, the photographer has never taken a Red Avadavat sighting for granted.